Chilean Volcano Could Have Major Eruption In Hours Or Days

A volcano in Chile has released three columns of steam and ash that combined into a cloud of over 3 miles high on Friday.

Officials in the country evacuated 119 people from the Hudson Volcano area, as other nearby residents prepared to flee due to melting snow and ice becoming a flood issue.

Chile’s national geology service said that the steam and ash was coming from three craters, ranging from 650 feet to 1,600 feet wide.

The service said that a major eruption could occur within hours or days.

The Hudson Volcano has erupted twice in the last 60 years, with the most recent eruption occurring in August 1991. This eruption spewed ash 18 inches deep and killed about 1.5 million sheep on the Argentine side of the mountain.

The volcano is 995 miles south of Chile’s capital, Santiago, and 470 miles south of the Cordon Caulle volcano.

An eruption from the Hudson volcano in 1971 killed five people and caused flooding.

The volcano is covered by a glacier, which can be a threat to locals incase parts of it began to melt.